


the flickering of the candlelight

by rare_giraffe



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Bird Hybrid TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, References to Depression, Sleepy Cuddles, Wingfic, kinda?? not that much hurt, made this to sate my need for more fluff, mentioned anxiety, no beta we die like Tubbo at the festival, preening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29668710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rare_giraffe/pseuds/rare_giraffe
Summary: Tommy hasn’t been able to see Tubbo in weeks due to Shlatt’s growing suspicion. When Tubbo shows up at his door in Pogtopia, he’s shaken by how rough Tommy looks. He does what he can to bring comfort to the boy he calls his best friend.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), shippers dni - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 126





	the flickering of the candlelight

Tommy woke up slowly. His thoughts were swimming in honey and his head felt like it was full of cotton. His body ached. Where was he?

His mind sped up significantly as he realized where he was. Sitting up too quickly for his head to catch up, his eyes blurred in and out as the dim candle light felt way too bright for his eyes to handle. 

His head hurt. He mentally curses himself as he begins to stand up, slowly stretching his arms and legs, not being able to unfurl his wings due to the tight walls of Pogtopia. The feelings of being confined mingle with the constant anxiety and dread he feels but he tucks them away to deal with another time. He doesn’t have time to feel these days. 

Looking around, Tommy faintly wonders where Wilbur and Techno were. He thinks to the last time he saw them together. There was a lot of yelling, a lot of loud noises. Another memory tucked away for another time. 

Snapping out of his daze, Tommy runs his hand along the rough, cracked surface of the ravine wall. Feeling suffocated, he decides to go climb up the steep steps to go outside. The stuffy air of Pogtopia fades to the crisp, cold air outside. Stepping into the snow, he takes a deep breath and takes in the beauty of the snow glimmering off the trees.

Tommy looks around, looking for someone he knew he wouldn’t find. Tubbo hasn’t visited in weeks, heavily under Shlatt’s control and under close watch after he kept disappearing to visit Tommy. The ache in Tommy’s chest is shoved down quickly. Those emotions were too heavy to unpack. 

Tommy had to suppress the urge to take off his jacket and stretch his wings. He had been keeping his wings under layers of clothing for weeks. Too many memories attached to them, too much emotion to be able to ignore. They ached, but Tommy couldn’t deal with the consequences of looking at them. He couldn’t even imagine the state that they’re in.

His wings were a thing that were distinctly his, they were something for him and no one else. There were a rare few occasions in his entire life where he allowed someone to touch his wings, and even then that was just to tend to injuries or to grab a dead feather. Having someone touch his wings makes him so incredibly uncomfortable, vulnerable, something he isn’t used to feeling. 

Dragged back into reality by his numbing fingers, Tommy rubs his eyes and does one final scan of the environment. The sun reflects off the snow in dazzlingly bright rays, much more alive than the dim glow of the candles in the ravine. He sighs, the cold air stinging his lungs as he exhaled, smiling faintly at the cloud of smoke. 

Sparing his freezing extremities, he decides to head back inside. Tommy gives his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the caves. The familiar feeling of dread and anxiety settles back in his chest, almost a familiar comfort. He hears Wilbur and Techno somewhere in the cavern arguing over something that probably held no significance to him. He’d been finding it increasingly difficult to care about their antics. 

Descending the stairs, he walks back to his room, mind fuzzy as he attempts to ignore the shouting match that is taking place a few rooms over. Slowly walking into the room he slept in. Getting into his bed, he sighed softly. The lights from his torches flickered across the walls in dizzying patterns, Tommy allowing himself to be mesmerized by the ever changing swirls and dips. 

Soon after, or maybe much longer, Tommy felt himself being pulled from sleep- when had he fallen asleep? The fighting in the other room had quieted, leaving only murmurs carrying emotion Tommy couldn’t interpret due to to the thick rock walls separating the two from him. 

A soft knock can be heard on his door and Tommy blinks in confusion. The safe fog in his mind recedes quickly, leaving a clear spike of fear and curiosity. Thinking clearer, Tommy reasons Techno and Wilbur in the other room wouldn’t allow anyone dangerous in Pogtopia. It was probably one of them looking for him to give his insight on their disagreement or to just annoy him. 

Groaning as he stands up, he opens the door to see not Wilbur or Techno, but Tubbo. Tommy stands there for a few seconds to process, Tubbo, real and tangible, standing right in front of him. 

“Hey Tommy” Tubbo softly says, as if to reassure Tommy that this wasn’t a dream.

Instead of a verbal response, Tommy walks forward and hugs Tubbo, tucking his head under his chin. He wrestles with the emotions, suddenly surging at the unexpected trigger. 

The feeling of his friend, real and warm pressed against him was more than enough to cause a few tears to slip down Tommy’s face. 

Tubbo, sensing the rawness of Tommy’s emotion, guides them to Tommy’s bed, sitting him down slowly.

“How’s it been going, big man?” Tubbo half jokes, using the nickname that always made Tommy grin.

“I missed you, Tubs” Tommy slurs slowly, choosing his words carefully as to not trigger more painful emotions. 

Realizing Tommy isn’t in the mood to talk much, Tubbo looks over him slowly, as if he was examining him. Sadness flickers through his eyes, but Tommy doesn’t have the energy to process why.

“Tommy, I know how you are about your wings, but can you bring the out for me? Having them tucked away for however long you have cant be good for them.” Tubbo says, trying to make eye contact with Tommy. Tommy’s eyes were stormy, the fog clearly returning.

Tommy nods slowly, stripping off his jacket and coat to reveal his wings. Usually shiny and a sight to behold, his wings were dull and feathers bent in every direction, clearly not having been tended to in far too long. Tubbo gasps softly, sadness threatening to overwhelm him. 

Tommy had always prided his wings, he spent hours meticulously going through them in the past, making them shine so he could proudly flaunt them in front of everyone. Seeing his wings so dull and broken stirred something in Tubbo, showing him a real indication of how Tommy had been in the past weeks. He internally vowed to never leave him alone for this long again.

“Tommy, I know you’re uncomfortable with your wings being touched, but I’d really appreciate if you let me straighten these few feathers out. “ Tubbo drawls hesitantly, expecting Tommy to shut him down with a sharp insult and a bark of laughter. Instead, Tommy slowly looked up with brewing eyes and took a deep breath, spreading his wings out with a nod of approval. Tubbo has to suppress the surprise and sadness he feels, staring at the dull wings. 

Positioning Tommy to face forward on his bed and softly setting a pillow in his lap for him to hold, Tubbo sits behind Tommy to closely look at his wings. The feathers that weren’t broken bent at all of the wrong angles and the usually bright dapple of red markings dulled to more of the color of dirt. Not being able to stop himself, he gently ghosted his fingers over Tommy’s wings. 

Tommy visually shuddered, and Tubbo hummed in sympathy. 

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Tommy.” Tubbo says, making sure to give him an out if he felt too uncomfortable.

Tommy inhaled, then exhaled. “It’s ok Tubs, I know they’re in bad condition. I’d appreciate some help on this one.” 

Tubbo, taken aback by the usually loud and boisterous boy’s soft, timid tone, slowly puts his hand in Tommy’s feathers.

Tommy feels it again. Vulnerability. This time, he doesn’t have the energy to push it down. He embraces it, allowing it to mingle with the feelings of confusion and  
anxiety. 

His coherent thoughts cut off short. The feeling of Tubbo’s hand, gently running through his feathers was something he had never experienced before. He keens, heavily leaning into the pillow he was clutching. It was an odd feeling, not being familiar with the feeling of someone else in contact with his wings. 

He could feel Tubbo slotting his feathers back into the correct places, the broken ones being discarded by the bed. The feeling of the soft hand in his feathers makes him gasp, letting out a low hum of appreciation. He can hear Tubbo softly chuckle behind him. 

“You know, if you enjoy this so much, why have you never let me do it before?” Tubbo inquires quietly, half expecting no answer. 

“I don’t like feeling vulnerable” Tommy says, leaving a few seconds between his words. He sounds sleepy. 

Tommy can feel Tubbo gain confidence in his actions, moving to the smaller, softer secondaries. Whatever Tommy was thinking about before was completely lost due to the wave of intense pleasure that swept through him. The world felt muted, Tommy was underwater, swimming in safety and bliss. In his state, he fell forward onto the pillow and his mattress. Tubbo, repositioning behind him, continues to work through his secondaries. 

Warm shudders work their way through Tommy’s body as he focuses on the fingers working at his wings. He uses whatever conscious mind that does work to suppress the low whine trying to work its way out of his throat. His body quickly wins the battle and Tubbo smiles, realizing how incredibly touch starved the poor boy was. 

Finishing up his wings, Tubbo stands to collect the pile of feathers and throw them away. Standing, Tubbo admires his work. His wings weren’t anything like they used to be, but the state was greatly improved. Tommy, looking up, makes a whine at the loss of contact. Returning to the bed, Tubbo takes a minute to look at Tommy. He was loosely gripping his pillow, the storm in his eyes temporarily absent. Gently lifting Tommy up, he pulls the dazed boy against himself, replacing the pillow. 

Wrapping his arms around Tommy, he runs his fingers through the feathers close to Tommy’s back. He can feel the shudders of Tommy against him, the feeling reassuring and saddening. The other hand finding place in Tommy’s hair, he combs the long, curly hair until his breathing evened out.

Once his breathing had slowed to a peaceful rhythm, Tubbo allowed himself to drift off. They would catch up in the morning, but for now, Tubbo would let Tommy rest.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all in a sitting lmao
> 
> Idk I feel like we need more preening fics those things are like crack for the soul.
> 
> If anyone actually likes this I might write more on this, maybe focusing on working through Tommy’s suppressed emotions but I doubt it’ll get much attention 
> 
> Anyways I have a twitter if anyone’s interested 
> 
> @thinkng_about


End file.
